MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Big game for UTPB
UTPB and Dallas Baptist will both try to boost their chances to reach the Heartland Conference men’s basketball tournament when they clash at 7 tonight at the Falcon Dome.
The top four teams in the final regular-season standings qualify for the conference tourney, and the Falcons (13-13 overall, 6-6 conference) are in fifth place, a half-game behind Arkansas-Fort Smith (14-13, 7-6), with two games remaining. The Patriots (14-11, 5-6), who host Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday, are a half-game behind UTPB.
Dallas Baptist, which beat UTPB 78-64 on Jan. 12 in Dallas, has three of the league’s top six scorers in Jordan McGowen (15.9 points per game), Nick Fox (15.6) and TJ Clark (13.8). McGowen also ranks fourth in rebounding with 6.9 per game, and Clark shoots a conference-best 89.4 percent from the free-throw line.
UTPB’s Ke’Andre Derrick is second in foul shooting at 84.9 percent. Point guard Louis Crane averages 8.1 points and 2.4 assists for the Falcons, and he’s sixth in the league in 3-point shooting at 42.3 percent.
